Category Archives: Collectables

A Meeting with History

I thought I’d managed to sort out the “featured page” problem, but it was still there when I switched on tonight. I think I’ve fixed it now.

I’ve also fixed the small font problem. I must have adjusted it to 50% at some point when I was jabbing viciously and swearing at the slow-loading netbook. It’s now back to full size and I can read it.

This does not, of course, mean that it is worth reading.

Today I put a jital up for sale – a coin I’d never even heard of before.

It’s a small billon coin of Genghis Khan, minted shortly after 1200. Billon is an alloy of copper and silver. The Romans used it. Henry VII also used it, but he used it so that he could use some of the silver for financing his extravagant existence. His tampering with the coinage was so bad that it became known as the Great Debasement.

Meanwhile, I’m still slightly suspicious about the identification of the design as an elephant, It appears to have pointy ears, for one thing…

eBay, Bulldogs and Royal Visits

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I found out about how to unpin the post I mentioned previously. It didn’t take much in the end, I looked at the page as I was getting ready for a new post, saw it was marked “sticky” and prodded a few random buttons until it cleared.

I’m feeling quite tech savvy now,

Today’s main project was writing up a collection of prize medals belonging to a dog breeder who appears to have had a good deal of success in France in 1924 and 1925.

If you want a test of your creative writing skills try writing up a pile of dog prize medals in an attractive yet accurate way. They are lovely medals, but they are a real test of writing skill.

I’m also working on a drop-down menu for Royal Visit medallions. These used to be quite popular before the Great War. These are some of the better ones.

Royal Visit to Derby 1906

This is for the Royal Visit to Derby in 1906

Opening of Kew Bridge

This is for the opening of Kew Bridge in 1903

Struggling with Technology

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The netbook is a little slow and awkward compared to my laptop, but it’s still charging, which is more than you can say for the laptop.

I’ve even managed to put some photos on, starting with the Fat Rascals from Wednesday. I’ll put some others on as I go along.

It seems that there is a USB port on the netbook, but I had failed to see it. – I’m not the sharpest tool in the box.

I tried downloading from the camera, but the netbook kept trying to reformat the card. Reformat sounds like an improvement, but as most of you will know it really means destroy the several thousand photos I have carelessly stored there. I don’t want to do that.

I’m going to have to improve the way I store my photos before something bad happens to them.

Eventually I loaded some photos onto a flash drive and transferred them that way.

At work, amongst other things, I loaded up some engraved coins., known as Love Tokens. They are quite common on Victorian coins and often crop up in mixed lots of coins. They were, it is usually said, engraved by young men for their girlfriends. If that is true there were a lot of talented young men out there.

Engraved sixpence

Engraved farthing

Last Minute Post

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I seem to have passed the blood test, as there was no panicky phone call this afternoon.

It was a troublesome visit for a number of reasons. I had trouble getting into the car park, for one thing. The man who got to the machine before me decided to reverse out. This took several minutes and nearly cause two accidents. I wasn’t sure why he did this, but he then drove in through the exit (which had a broken barrier), so I presume he was inconveniencing us to save a couple of pounds.

The main testing room was closed today. I suspect it’s part of the long running problem with water leaks. As a result the queue was longer than usual. I didn’t help matters as I’d forgotten my appointment card, which slowed things down.

They got the vein first time, which was good.

The barrier was still broken when I left, which was also good. I love free parking.

There was more to my day, including nine parcels and a Teddy Tail badge, but that’s a story for another day. It’s just that if I mention it I can use the photo. This gives me an excuse to use the Rupert badge too. I may as well chuck in the Cococubs badge too.

Cococubs badge

Rupert the Bear

My Latest Acquisition

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This came through the post today. It’s nice to know the post is still working, as I am still waiting for a parcel from two weeks ago.

It’s an RAF Eagle made from perspex (or lucite or plexiglass if you prefer). This is typical WW2 work – they didn’t have any perspex in the Great War. Well, I’m fairly sure they didn’t. It was first developed in the nineteenth century but seems to have been commercially available from the 1930s.

Traditionally it’s always said to be from aircraft windows, and it’s true that it is mainly made up in ways that reflect its use by the RAF. Apart from the availability of perspex there was also access to workshops. It’s a myth that “trench art” was made in the trenches. When you examine the facts you’ll see a lot was made after the war and made by people with access to decent tools. And, of course, when you look at eBay, you can see that a lot of it looks like it has been made in the last ten years.

I’ll photograph a few more pieces later.

RAF Eagle Sweetheart WW2

Some Interesting Coins

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Despite what I say, there are some interesting coins. Some, like the one in the Featured Image, are interesting because of the picture they have on them. Penguins are a guaranteed winner. I mean, who can resist a Penguin?

Here are a few others that I put on recently. They aren’t quite as interesting as Penguins, but they are considerably better than some of the coins you see around.

Falkland Islands 50p

We bought a couple of collections today, including one that had some interesting old coins.

This was one of them.

Louis XVI 2 Sols 1793

It’s a 2 sols of Louis XVI. It appears to be dated 1793, though it’s a bit worn so you have to look closely. It was quite a big year for Louis, on account of him being executed by guillotine in January 1793. The sol, or sou, was made up of 12 deniers and 20 sols made a livre (pound).

You may notice that this uses the letters L S and D and 12, 20 and 240 – very much along the lines of the UK’s pre-decimal coinage.

The French adopted the decimal system in 1795, being the third country in the world to do so after Russia (1704) and the USA (1787).

This was another that cropped up.

Papal 20 Baiocchi 1860

It’s a 20 Baiocchi of the Papal States, dated 1860. Pope Pius IX is the man on the front. I recall him and the Papal States and Garibaldi from my school history. Unfortunately I don’t recall it well enough to write more about it. I’m going to have to do some reading.

Another Sweetheart Brooch

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Great War Sweetheart Brooch

In real life it’s only about an inch high. It’s the badge of the Royal Artillery inside a good luck horseshoe.

The top scroll translates as “Everywhere” and is the battle honour of the RA, which has been engaged everywhere the army has been.

Very short post as I have to get on.

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Life after the Care Farm